We will be in Athens the 2nd week of March. This is our first time traveling to Greece and we are mostly interested in the historical sites and are going in March to avoid the heat and crush of summer. We are planning a day trip to Delphi. We don't usually book tours, preferring to do things on our own, but it looks like in this case it would be easier to take a tour bus rather than getting to Delphi using the public bus. Is there a company that any one has used and can recommend? My husband is a Classics Professor and has been teaching about this stuff for many years. He has taught college kids on study abroad semesters all over Italy, but this will be our first time seeing the Greek sites in person! We don't really need a guided tour of the site, but I assume this will be part of the package. So, I don't mind if the tour guide isn't great, we just want to get to the site with ease and comfort.
Posted by
France Southwest - Occitanie
3538 posts
Don't forget that you could also rent a car for the day.
This way you won't be dependent on organized tours which you don't seem to appreciate, like imposed schedules, predetermined duration and order of visits (museums and archaeological sites) , often a mandatory lunch for the whole group in a tourist trap, etc.
Posted by
Indiana
1137 posts
Just another option for you to consider....During our visit to Greece, we rented a car late one afternoon and drove to Delphi. We chose to spend the night in Delphi, in order to be at the sites first thing in the morning before the tour buses arrived. That was a great plan for us, since we were able to explore the various things before the hordes of tourists descended on them. I do NOT recommend a stay at the Kastalia Boutique Hotel. Rooms are dated; cleanliness is lacking; poor breakfast and service. I'm sure there are much better accommodations in town.
Posted by
OP
Texas
119 posts
Well, we are hoping to avoid a bunch of hassle, so I think getting in a bus or car driven by someone who knows what they are doing is preferable! So no car rental for this particular side trip.
Posted by
Philadelphia, PA, USA
3674 posts
At least you will be going Off season, with fewer crowds. Those Day tours are problematic. If you board at the tour agency, you then spend at least 45 minutes picking up others at hotels... total time waste. There is a rest-stop halfway there. All tour busses arrive at SAME time - about 10:30 - so sometimes hundreds are scrambling uphill on sacred site at same time... while guides spiel about gods/goddesses for tourist-majority who are totally unaquainted ... Your best bet is to skip ahead -- In fact, best bet is to go to Museum first, while the group is on ruins site. That's because ALL tour groups, descend en masse on Museum a little before Noon -- so it's jampacked, no one can get near exhibits, while guides yammer above the hubbub.
If you go earlier, the museum is less populated... signage is excellent for anyone with any Ancient history knowledge at all. The next group routine is, Guides forcibly herd groups OUT of Museum and onto busses! No time even to walk downhill to the unfenced & open Tholos Tomb, or the Castallian springs. No no, the bus group is told, time to go for lunch.. which a a big mass-feeding restaurant where you may eat a long tables with 40 other people, bad menu (do you smell kickback?) and of courseYOU pay. Afterwards, bus takes off but Surprise! an unannounced stop... ancient site? No, a souvenir shop! (do you smell kickback?) With all this unnecessary business, bus arrives back in Athens just in time for rush-hour traffic ... to delliver people to hotels & finally, the agency office.
How to combat this?? Perhaps by very specific questions to agencies. Email asking for answer from a qualified tour admistrator. Ask if you can "reverse" the itinerary onsite, and go by yourselves FIRST to Museum and THEN to site. Ask if you can SKIP the self=pay group lunch and be picked up afterwards at the Site Gate. Then you can come with your own delicious packed lunch, eat it while sitting on a ruined column high on the hilltop, then walk downhill to the tholos, then be at the gate at appointed pick-up time. If they say, dthis isnt possible, then try another tour group.
I"m giving this advice as a Classics buff who had just such a nightmare tour on my first Greece trip... and have since heard virtually identical stories from many others. On a later (4th? 5th?) Greece visit in late May, I took a nice KTEL intercity bus around 2 pm, arrived at 5, checked into Pan HOtel on its downhill side (my balcony looked DOWn on circling falcons 200 feet below, then over a valley toward sea). Went to museum at 6 pm, empty, delightful. Wonderful sunset dinner on a terrace.. At 8 am, entered ancient site, explored for 2-3 hours, got a snack, stopped back at hotel to pick up overnight case & caught a 1 pm bus. I think bus fare is about €16-18 each way. The taxi fare from the Liossos Bus trminal back to a central Athens hotel will b e about €15-16. The experience was totally different from my first,... and a memory I treasure. "Ease & comfort" is NOT the tour-bus story.
Posted by
France Southwest - Occitanie
3538 posts
Ahah! I think Janet has put the final nail in the coffin of the Delphi bus tour :)
Posted by
Denver
912 posts
Here's another idea. Last fall, we booked a wonderful half-day private tour to Delphi, through the site ToursbyLocals. We were looking for a licensed guide who could give us a detailed tour of the site and the museum; for us, there was a separate driver, who let us off at Delhi, then the guide toured us through. I noticed that, on that website at least, there were a number of people offering a ride to Delphi, who could talk about Delphi (and whatever) on the drive to Delphi, but then would NOT guide you once at the site, because they were not licensed to do so. Given your situation, getting a driver (but not a guide at Delphi) may be a good option for you.
Posted by
Philadelphia, PA, USA
3674 posts
Lexma has an appealilg solution, if you have deep pockets. It's not really a "half-day Tour" ... perhsps she means 3-4 hours actually ON site... but a pvt car that takes you there & brings you back, with no on-site guidance, will cost you at least $400, because it amounts to a full day for the driver, because the trip takes between 3:15 and 3:30 hours each way -- and 3 hours on site plus lunch means at least a 9 am - 6 pm day. (BTW I always hope that people when recommending an option, will mention the cost).
Posted by
France Southwest - Occitanie
3538 posts
The "ease and comfort" aspect is highly subjective, so here's a price comparison only, in case that's a factor.
Full-day tours to Delphi with a licensed guide departing from Athens cost approximately €1000 +/- €250, depending on the tour company, the guide, what's included in the tour, and whether there are other visitors in the same vehicle.
The KTEL bus fare from Athens to Delphi is €33 round trip. Add the cost of a taxi, approximately €30 for a round trip to/from Athens bus station. Bus tickets here:
https://ktelbus.gr/fok/ticketweb/
A round-trip taxi from Athens to Delphi costs around €400 (plus the driver's waiting time if it's the same driver for both trips).
With the car rental company I usually use in Athens, the daily rental price in March for a car ranges from €30 to €45 (pick-up and drop-off from the Athens office on Siggrou Avenue). Add approximately €50 for fuel for the round trip to Delphi and €17 for tolls (via A1 ).